“Sorry,” I told him. “We are allergic to horses. Plus, we arranged for a donkey today.”

“With Juomaa?” he asked.

“Yes,” we confirmed.

Defeated, he shook our hands and said good-bye. The game was over.

9:20. Of course, we were late. The tour groups had already made it to the Treasury. A sound floated our direction – a whistle? Our eyes followed the sound to the grinning Maaz, still dressed in brown. We hardly recognized Juomaa sitting next to him, looking regal in his thobe and gold ghuttra.

Setting off to High Point of Sacrifice

Petra Mountains

Joumaa leading donkey along mountain edge

Stairs cut in stone

Our Salams said, we boarded our 5-star donkeys. Our tent-mates insisted we could make it to the High Point of Sacrifice by ourselves, but Joumaa’s promise to show us the unmentionable place held my curiosity. Maaz led my donkey while I texted my husband. “If you don’t hear from me by the end of the day, then send someone to look for the circling buzzards.” Following narrow trails, we reached a silk-rock cave.

“This was a classroom.” Joumaa pointed out the markings on the walls. They were early 19th century, nothing ancient.

Schoolroom in Cave

Not so ancient teachings

“And here is the place,” he said ushering us around the corner before he hurried away.

The unmentionable – a reminder of the Goddess’ rites practiced under a full moon – a huge phallus carved in the back wall. After seeing that big boner, I understood the Old Testament tirades against Baal.

The visit took ten minutes. 4,000 years later, save the lone phalli, there was nothing left of those wild, fertile times. When we returned, our donkeys were gone.

“I sent the boy ahead.” said Juomaa. “We will walk this way.”

He led us through trees and boulders, narrow passages. We were not the first to cross the ancient steps, but we definitely needed a Bedouin’s guidance.

I heard humming, the echo of a thousand, gathered voices and whispered to Juomaa.

“Shhhh, he said pointing at Louise.

Still wearing her gold shoes, Louise broke through the brush.

“Close your eyes,” I said. “Hold out your hands.”

“Why? What are you going to do to me?” Conjuring the vestal virgins, she stood tall and held out her palms.

“We will guide you.”

As if she knew her fate, she asked in a regal tone, “Where are you taking me?”

“Trust us,” said Juomaa.

It took us a dozen steps to walk her across the boulders.

“Stop here,” Juomaa commanded only centimeters from the edge. Gripping her forearms so she could not break away, he said, “Now – open them.”

Startled, she nearly fell. Then tears swelled in her eyes as she took in the Treasury below us. From our ledge, the tourists and the Bedouin looked like ants.

You can arrange to meet him at the Petra entrance, or, if you are lucky, arrange to meet him at Haroun’s for a sunset trip to the Monastery. He charged us each 50JD for our four-hour tour. His rate matched the rates quoted on Frommer’s. His donkey were well-cared for, and he is a kind, stable individual.

Had we not already established a trust, his proposal would have sounded like a proposition.

“Yes, we’d love to,” cooed the three women.

We climbed up a small slope and voila, there in the rocks was Juomaa’s front door – locked against wandering bandits.

“Here is where we kept our fire,” he said pointing to a small pit with ink-colored sand stained by the ash. “Here is where our cousins slept. The men here. The women there. And over here was the cave the tourists slept. They used to come up here and we would offer them hospitality.”

The bedroom-sized caves must have been cramped when all the cousins slept over. I imagined there was a lot of giggling at night.

“At the bottom of this canyon is Haroun’s orchard,” said Juomaa. As he looked over the site, he sighed. “I loved living in the caves.”

Without their inhabitants, the caves were not homes, and there was little else to see inside.

Rift Valley View

Monastery Petra

Sunset over Petra

Outside, the multi-colored stone was brilliant orange as the sun dropped. To the right of his front door was a stunning view of the Monastery.

We stood enjoying a quiet anyone living in a city has never heard. The desert is a place where life is pared down to the bare minimum. You get enough water to survive – with nothing to waste. You eat to fill your belly; no left-overs that might spoil. Your possessions must fit on your back or your donkey’s. Your entertainment is Nature’s round-the-clock exhibition of her array of colors. The air was fresh, tinged with the freedom of living without masters.

“I could get used to living up here,” my friend said. “I don’t think my husband would like it.”

“No CNN or A/C, mine would complain,” I said. “But I feel free.”

“It is gorgeous. I can just imagine sitting around the campfire, telling stories and watching the stars,” Louise said. Her eyes had gone dreamy again.

It was a pity we were unable to enjoy the Bedouin hospitality, but the sun waits for no woman. If we wanted to end our day in true Thelma and Louise style, then we had to get to the cliff at the top of the world.

Many signs pointed towards the canyon’s lip.

Climbing the mountain, we rushed towards the edge, but our donkey stopped just in time. Regardless of what anyone else wanted, he refused to take that last step.

Welcome to Top of the World

Maaz’ feet hanging over cliff.

Maaz stopped to lean against a fence made of sticks. My mother’s heart stopped. My friend encouraged him to step away by asking him to take her photo. Soon, he was leaping around like a mountain goat snapping shots our stomachs could not endure.

“Over here,” called Juomaa. Taking off his sunglasses, he squinted and pointed west to some distant spot where his camels grazed. “Wadi Araba, my winter home. It is warmer there. Araba is the real desert.” He turned and pointed south.

“See the white roof on the top of that mountain. That is Aaron’s Tomb. In Islam, we believe Aaron was a prophet and a priest like his brother Moses.”

“My great-grandfather’s name was Aaron,” I told him. Suddenly the pieces came together. “His grandfather’s name was Eleazer. In the Old Testament, Eleazer was Aaron’s son. Very curious,” I said, watching the sun set. “It all feels so familiar and comfortable. This is truly our shared ancestral land.”

You can arrange to meet him at the Petra entrance, or, if you are lucky, arrange to meet him at Haroun’s for a sunset trip to the Monastery. He charged us each 50JD for our four-hour tour. His rate matched the rates quoted on Frommer’s. His donkey were well-cared for, and he is a kind, stable individual.